What Jerks
A family on 60 Minutes is walking away from their home/mortgage not because they can't afford it, but because the house isn't worth as much as they paid for it. I'm a bit confused as to what their gripe is. They thought the house was worth what they paid for it when they bought it right? Unless they're going to sell it right now it should still be worth (to them) what they paid for it. They haven't lost a dime until they sell it. It would be one thing if they couldn't afford it, but they can. They just don't want to live in the house anymore because it's not "worth" what they paid for it and they can't sell it for as much as they paid for it.
To make things even worse, this couple hasn't paid their mortgage for the past six months and don't intend to. They will live in the house for no charge until they are foreclosed on/thrown out. They are saving the money the should be paying so that they can rent a cheaper, nicer place to stay once they are thrown out of their current place. They say they don't feel bad because the banks don't feel bad on foreclosing on people. They feel justified because they asked the mortgage holder to renegotiate their loan. The bank said no because.... well, because they could afford to pay what they had signed up for.
If the value of the house had gone up, should the bank ask to renegotiate their mortgage so they could share in the profit?
This type of behavior is screwing an already screwed up economy but this couple and others like them don't care. It's not their problem. Hey, they've got money, they'll be okay, so who cares about others who live by a set of moral principles and obligations.
I hope that as they lie between the fresh, new sheets on the lovely bed in their new, better home they are plagued by persistent insomnia.
